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USDA mortgage insurance to increase

USDA Rural Development LoansLooking to buy a home with a Zero Down Payment USDA Rural Development Loan?

You don’t need to buy a home in a cornfield to use the USDA Rural Housing loan, but the property does need to meet their rural definition, and many areas qualify.

USDA loans, like most others, require mortgage insurance. Effective October 1, 2014, the monthly mortgage insurance on a USDA loan will increase to .50%.  This is up from the current .40%.

On a sample $100,000 loan amount, the new mortgage insurance costs would be $41.87 a month, up from the current $33.49 a month.

While no one likes the increased costs, USDA loans still have some of the lowest mortgage insurance costs of any home mortgage program, and is still an amazing value.

Learn more about USDA Rural Development Loans in MN, WI, IA, ND, SD

Mortgage rates near 11 month low – May 15th, 2015

Mortgage rates kept Mortgage ratesmoving lower today as European markets continued to provide an unexpectedly large boost in demand for domestic bond markets.  Those markets include mortgage-backed-securities that most directly affect mortgage rates, and higher demand pushes prices higher, which in turn makes mortgage rates rates lower.

The most prevalently quoted conforming 30yr fixed rate for best-case scenarios (best-execution) is now centered on 4.125%.  Some borrowers will see the improvements in the form of lower closing costs or higher lender credits.

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